


Ficlets

by tirsynni



Category: Dresden Files - Jim Butcher, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Legend of Zelda, Supernatural
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Canon, Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Angst, Dubious Consent, F/F, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Gen, M/M, Schmoop, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-09-17
Packaged: 2017-10-29 16:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Random ficlets for random fandoms, ranging from angsty to schmoopy, near-canon to alternate universes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. SPN - Easy

Easy

 

There was a catch to every wish. Dean Winchester knew that by now.

The catch for this wish was easy, though. Hell, it was part of the wish.

Once upon a time, if a powerful being owed him a favor and offered him anything he wanted, his answers would be simple: alcohol; chicks; for the creature to go fuck itself.

This time, Dean looked at his brother, at the dark circles that never faded under his baby brother’s eyes, at the hard set to his jaw and the slump in his shoulders.

Easy. All of this was so easy.

Dean wished for Sammy and watched his brother’s face grow slack with horror. It would be okay, though.

Sammy would get his life back, and Dean would live with the catch.

Easy.


	2. FF7 - Forever

Forever

 

Cloud Strife hated mirrors.

He had a love/hate relationship with pools of water. They were the only places he could find peace, where the voices in his mind settled, but he always saw Aeris and Zack smiling wistfully back at him.

Cloud hated the shadows.

Sephiroth lurked there, breath on his neck, hand possessive and _just behind him_ …

“Aren’t you tired of always being alone?” Tifa demanded, furious and hurt, and Cloud looked away.

He was never alone.

Never.


	3. FF8 - In Silence

In Silence

 

 _Where was Seifer? He’s alive somewhere. Why hasn’t he come back?_

“Man, Squall, you’re always so quiet! I don’t know how you do it.”

 _I don’t get how you do it. Doesn’t this bother you? Whatever. I don’t care. I don’t care. **I don’t care.**_

“Squally, let’s go out this evening. We can talk then, okay?”

 _There’s no point in talking. Haven’t you figured that out? You’re a rebel of all things. How far did talking get you?_

“Sometimes, I think I’m getting better at figuring you out, Squall. Don’t worry: I can keep a secret.”

 _If I said I wanted to leave, would you listen? Would you keep it a secret? Would you stop me? Would you follow me?_

 _Would you even notice I was gone?_

 _Seifer? Where did you go? Why did you leave?_

“We love you, Squall. You know that, right?”

“…”


	4. FF8 - A Little Less Conversation

A Little Less Conversation

 

Seifer liked to talk. So did Zell, but Seifer liked to talk in prose, describe dreams and legends, lose himself in wars within and without.

No one listened to him, though.

“What are you talking about?” Seifer drawled. “Squally-boy never shuts up. Didn’t you notice?”

He loved to laugh and talk about Squall’s temper. “Vicious,” he described. “Uncontrollable. He’s going to hurt himself one of these days.”

Quistis actually laughed at that. She understood Squall, you see.

“Pretty boy, lost in the rain,” he said on a sunny day. Zell scoffed. Squall broke Seifer’s nose.

Fu and Raijin listened, but they didn’t get it. Hard to understand unless you stood in battle, listening to the blades whistle and blood flow.

Squall spoke loudest then, but Seifer was the only one who listened.

When Seifer left, no one listened at all.


	5. FF7 - Gone

Gone

 

Zack had his arms wrapped around Cloud’s waist, yanking Cloud to him. Cloud’s golden spikes were everywhere. Cloud’s mouth was open, laughing. His teeth were very white. Sephiroth stood to one side, his lips quirked the barest hint in an indulgent smile. He had a pink flower in his hand.

Tifa stared at the photograph, mind blank. It was almost like time had stopped, except Avalanche and the Turks were still rummaging through the boxes, making sure there was nothing else that would come out and try to kill them later. She thought she saw Reno pocket something out of the corner of her eye, but that wasn’t a surprise.

Tifa slipped the photograph into her own pocket, and that did surprise her.

They all looked very young in that picture.

Maybe she would finally find her understanding there.


	6. LoZ - Good-Bye

Good-bye

 

The Goddesses, in Their compassion and wisdom, usually birthed the Hero to those soon to die.

Sometimes, even with all Their grace and power, they missed a generation.

“No, no, please…”

Link had never seen his mother cry. Even as the shadow grew over the land and hope dwindled, he had never seen her weep.

She reached for him now, but he was already swinging his leg over Epona’s back. If she touched him, he might stop.

His father reached her first and pulled her against his chest. She wept and -- the Goddesses help Link -- so did his father.

The dreams had drove them to this point, dreams and whispers of a princess he had never seen. They all knew the tales, the omens.

But the Hero was an orphan in them all.

“I love you,” Link said in lieu of a promise.

“Come home,” they replied, in lieu of telling him to be brave. Who needed to tell the Hero to be brave, after all?

Link would have preferred it. They all knew he wasn’t coming home.

The Goddesses usually bade orphans to pick up the Master Sword for a reason.


	7. FF7 - Lost

Lost

 

Tifa hated it when Barrett made some reference to Cloud’s lost love. She hated it more when everyone nodded in agreement. She hated it most when the stories of that epic love made the rounds through Midgar, Junon, Gaia.

If she opened her mouth, there would be pity. After all, everyone knew she loved Cloud as well. Their epic love was supposed to end the tale of the heroes.

If anyone actually listened to her, she might have said it was because Cloud’s epic love was never Aeris. When Cloud actually drank enough to get drunk, he would talk about ZackZackZack, about his pranks and his laugh and how many times Cloud had to save his life.

That always made Cloud cry, but that part never entered the legends.

If Cloud asked her, she would have told him the truth, how Aeris had mentioned how Cloud would be open to a threesome and she had flinched away. She, a ‘legendary’ fighter, had fled like a chocobo with its tail feathers on fire.

She would tell Cloud about how Aeris came to her later and put her hand on her thigh and made another, quieter offer.

And how Tifa had turned her down.

How Tifa never had another chance to say ‘yes.’

Tifa hated the stories of Cloud’s lost love, because the stories were always wrong. They didn’t talk about Zack at all.

And Tifa threw away her chance to create hers and Aeris’ own tale.


	8. FF8 - End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorceress!Rinoa and willingly!mind-controlled!Squall ahead.

End

 

When Rinoa looked at him and smiled in the starlight, Squall found himself smiling back.

When the sorceress crooked her finger under a shooting star, Squall went to her.

That part of him that was always held back and commented on the situation watched clinically now. Rinoa’s kiss was sweet, chaste even with its hint of tongue. A romantic kiss for a princess.

Squall could have fought a little. He might have been able to clue the others into the fact that something was wrong.

As always, he yielded instead.

A sorceress and her knight. That bitter voice inside him wouldn’t shut up. Fairy tales all around. Dreams accomplished.

Rinoa kissed him one more time and left the balcony to go back to the party. Everyone laughed there. The video camera rolled. They had won. They were triumphant.

Squall looked over the ocean. He had time until she called him again.

This wouldn’t be forever. She would leave him eventually. He didn’t know what would happen after that.

They all left eventually.

“Except you,” he said quietly. “Until you did.”

Seifer, miles below him and picking up his fishing rod, didn’t answer.


	9. SPN - Into the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where Azazel stole Sam That Night and there was dancing.

Into the Night

 

Everyone knew the apocalypse was coming. The Antichrist had risen, pure evil hidden under long brown hair and hazel eyes. The hunters were rousing, and even civilians knew something was wrong.

The Cupids watched in confusion as Heaven and Hell roused themselves. Both sides ignored them. Hunters scoffed them. Azazel completely disregarded them, totally focused on his precious, stolen human.

There was a reason that all the great legends included a love story.

The club was crowded and noisy, and Dean Winchester was more than buzzed. His father was somewhere drinking himself stupid rather than celebrating a triumphant hunt. In the morning, Dean would probably regret not staying beside him and making sure he didn’t kill himself with his drink. Tonight, he was just going to let loose and have fun.

When male hands joined the female ones touching him, Dean pushed aside all of his father’s comments about fags and fairies and just smiled and touched back.

The club was crowded and noisy, and Samuel was more than nervous. His father was somewhere doing things he never told his human son. In the morning, Samuel would regret not staying home, working on his powers and preparing for the end. Tonight, he was just going to let loose and have fun.

When human music and human touches roused him, Samuel pushed aside all of his father’s comments about pathetic humans and mortals and let himself step forward.

A Cupid waited in the shadows, and when Dean looked up and Samuel looked up and their eyes met, arrows flew.

For all of his years of denial, Dean didn’t hesitate to smile at the strange man on the other side of the room. His heart pounded when the stranger smiled back.

For all of his ignorance of other humans and their ways, Samuel didn’t hesitate to return the stranger’s smile. He didn’t understand the heat in his body when the stranger moved toward him.

Cupid watched, smug, as Samuel the Antichrist joined Dean the Hunter on the dance floor. He glowed while they danced the night away.

Weeks later, when they met on the battlefield for the first time, neither could raise their weapons.

Uriel never stopped fuming when the Cupids won the war.


	10. SPN - Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel promised Dean he would never leave him...

  
Castiel promised Dean he would never leave him. He swore it the first night they fell into bed together and Dean showed him the reason for that thing between his legs and showed him there were such things as good bruises.  
  
The promise had been equal parts loving and bitter. He loved Dean and wanted to stay, but his dying grace and the War stole his choices. He had nowhere to go but Dean.  
  
Until the War ended. They all survived. Heaven, Hell, and Earth stumbled, gods and goddesses and mortals and everything in between trying to find their place. Lines were drawn. All sides called their own back.  
  
If Castiel had been a little more mortal, he would have apologized. He would have given Dean one last kiss. He would have promised it wouldn’t have been forever: Dean was Heaven’s, after all.  
  
Instead, he went home without even a good-bye, and Dean silently watched him go.  
  
Whatever Hell had spared of the Righteous Man, Heaven finished off.


	11. LoZ - Angels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knew that the legendary Hero of Time had saved them.

Everyone knew the legendary Hero of Time had saved them. They thanked him in the same breath as they thanked the Goddesses as they repaired the shattered city.   
  
Many also knew of the silent blond boy in the foreign garb with a fairy on his shoulder. He rarely had to buy his food, as he often made up for it in trade. He blushed more than he smiled, and many of the townspeople were torn between his absentminded theft and just letting him have the items. No one knew if he had a home, but many allowed him to stay overnight in their homes. Certain people grew insistent on it when the weather worsened.  
  
Remarkably few people realized the Hero and the blond boy were the same. It was about the same amount that knew his name.  
  
Elle from the inn called out “Boy” and gave him apples to give Epona.  
  
The widow at the far end of town called him “Sweetie” and pestered him until he agreed to eat breakfast with her and her grandson.  
  
Malon laughed and shouted “Fairy Boy!” as Link rode Epona past her.  
  
The guards at Hyrule never even noticed him, and Zelda knew his name but never said it, just shook her head and shared her lunch with him.  
  
When his dreams drove him from Hyrule, the people always waited his return, never knowing whom they housed.  
  
It worked out well. Link rarely considered that they were housing the Hero of Time, either.


	12. FF8 - Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Squall stopped too long or let himself think, he could hear her always in the back of his mind.
> 
> Fortunately, Seifer knew what to do.

  
It hadn’t been intentional.  
  
For once, Squall’s mind had been quiet, and as long as he walked, it remained quiet.  
  
So Squall walked. And walked.  
  
If something came across his path, he fought without hesitation. It didn’t matter the size or the number: he charged.  
  
His torn clothing barely hid his bruises. He tasted blood. All he could hear was his heartbeat in his ears.  
  
So Squall kept walking.  
  
“What happened to you?” The voice sounded more disbelieving than concerned, more angry than frightened. Still, the voice triggered the whispers inside Squall’s mind. He felt it more than heard it, but it was enough:  
  
 _Squally? Where are you?_  
  
So Squall pulled out his gunblade again and charged.  
  
He was exhausted; Seifer was not. Still, his fury made Seifer fall back, and his eyes widened in surprise like they had when Squall first gave him his scar. Squall almost knocked him off his feet before Seifer attacked back with a gunblade he didn’t recognize. Squall didn’t recognize Seifer’s clothes or the tightness of his mouth, the scars on his hands. Squall snarled and fought harder.  
  
In an even fight, Squall might have won. In this fight, Seifer knocked his gunblade from his hands and then swung the flat of the blade at Squall’s head.  
  
Squall didn’t remember hitting the ground. He just remembered the silence and the darkness, and he was grateful.  
  
Seifer was always good at knowing what he needed.


	13. Dresden Files - Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Marcone didn't know everything about Harry Dresden.

  
There were years missing from John Marcone’s file on Harry Dresden. There was no information on his mother, and there was very little on his father. There was information on Dresden entering the orphanage, but there was very little on him leaving. There were some school records and a GED, but there was nothing to explain the gap in between.  
  
But there was one unexpected bit of information, and that fascinated John far more than it should. It was something he kept to himself, something even Hendricks didn’t know.  
  
Once upon a time, when Harry Dresden first moved to Chicago, he was a dance instructor.  
  
The legendary wizard Dresden could ballroom dance.  
  
When John kept that secret from Hendricks, it wasn’t necessarily Dresden’s secret he was protecting. It was the dream that one day, Harry Dresden would dance with him, too.  
  
And as Dresden burned down more of his buildings and graced him with more and more smirks, John counted down to when he could show Dresden that he knew how to ballroom dance, too.


End file.
